Based in Salt Lake City, Utah in the USA, Rob Ferre is a DJ, MC, Host, Speaker & also the owner of market-leading mobile DJ company Life of the Party Entertainment. A natural-born entertainer, Rob loves music and dancing, but he has also developed a passion & expertise for the business side of the DJ industry. hours of my presentation. It was fabulous, and I have received amazing feedback. However, I do credit my success to Jason and Brady for their initiative and enthusiasm to set up the virtual studio.
This couldn’t have happened without creativity and collaboration. The postponement of the Pro Mobile Conference once again meant that we had to pivot. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to be there in the UK in person. But I still wanted to give value to the delegates, as did my fellow Lead Keynote Speaker, Alan Berg.
We both hosted virtual webinars exclusively for registered Conference delegates on the Monday when the event was originally scheduled to take place. Since then I have given multiple virtual presentations to past speaking clients with the goal of offering added value and to be of service. So how can you be of service to clients who either had to postpone or cancel their events? One idea I got from Brian Buonassissi was to send a gift to my wedding couples on their original wedding date.
I am also reaching out to fellow event professionals and offering to help them with LinkedIn training and running virtual webinars. As a professional entertainer, our current circumstances have not allowed opportunities to work or perform live. My brain was practically shortcircuiting with stir craziness when I noticed everyone around me experiencing something similar. An idea hit me.
An idea that allowed people a mental escape and some therapeutic sunshine, all while remaining socially distant. I called this idea ‘Doorstep DJ Dance Parties - socially distanced without being socially distant’ . My assistant and I collaborated to beta test this idea in her neighbourhood. The guidelines for these events are simple.
We ask families taking part to stay on their front lawns or doorsteps and to make sure they are always a safe distance apart. We keep them short – just half an hour – and I donate my services as I want to create a community service and give people some joy in their new normal of ‘Stay Safe, Stay Home’ . So that I also maintain a safe distance, I DJ from the trunk of my car with battery-powered equipment. How did our beta Doorstep DJ Dance Party turn out?
It was a huge success! We were featured on the news, full of smiles, laughter, sunshine, and, of course, dancing. Many other communities have since reached out to me for help with socially responsible block parties. I’m also incredibly proud of other DJs across the US and around the world who are leading similar outside-of-the-box movements.
Every day now, we are seeing things that wouldn’t have happened if the world were ‘business as usual’ . I am seeing lots of DJs streaming their sets in new, creative ways. I have seen DJs not only try different platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitch, but also theming their streams. These themes have included Nick Spinelli’s 70s and Dave Galloway’s family-friendly sets.
Nate Nelson does a regular stream he calls ‘Recess’ , which is a family-friendly dance party during the day to give families an opportunity to take a break mid-afternoon. Not only is this a great way to stay connected with past and potential future clients, some DJs are even generating a source of income by accepting tips for requests! How can you be creative with this innovation? How can you serve your clients?
How can you monetise your services and when should you monetise them? Here are three ideas for streaming your services: 1. Stream music for weddings/events that were postponed/cancelled. When our weddings cancel, I offer them the opportunity for me to host a celebration virtually with introductions, speeches and spotlight dances, followed by an hour-long virtual dance party, all on Zoom.
2. Reach out to past and existing corporate clients and offer a happy hour dance party, music to help them work, or midday virtual games. You can share playlists or interact and host for them live. This is a great opportunity to add some levity to corporate clients’ virtual conferences or meetings.
3. Record the audio from your sets when you stream. You will then have content to share on Soundcloud or Mixcloud with future clients and fans. I know we are in a place we never could have predicted.
However, now is the time to concentrate on creatively innovating for the betterment of our entire industry and society as a whole. Let’s share those ideas and start acting on them. I hope to see you soon, virtually of course! An idea hit me.
I called this idea Doorstep DJ Dance Parties - socially distanced without being socially distant 47INNOVATE & CREATE MOBILE DJ BUSINESS REVIEW Sales | Service | Risk | People
